


Pumpkin

by sinonic



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Blupjeans (mentioned) - Freeform, M/M, Mutual Pining, Stolen Century, taagnus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-24 07:10:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19718737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinonic/pseuds/sinonic
Summary: Taako accidentally calls Magnus by a nickname — Pumpkin — and fluff ensues.





	Pumpkin

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies if this isn't that great, I wrote this in a couple of hours after several cups of coffee instead of working on my assignment and it's my first taz fanfic eyyyyyy

Taako knew what he was getting into when he signed up to try and teach Magnus some magic.

He just didn’t account for his dumb heart. Because fuck – Magnus was hot, and Taako did not want to catch feelings, especially since he was going to be stuck on a spaceship with him for what seemed like the rest of their lives – which, judging by the fact that everything reset at the end of each year – would go on forever.

“Taako, I just,” Magnus looked down the ground and kicked a stone across the dirt. “I just don’t understand what I’m doing wrong.”

A pang of sympathy touched his heart, which was something that was rare and something that he usually never liked to show. He had an image – a brand – to maintain, and any kind of compassion would surely tarnish everything that he had ever worked for. But still, he couldn’t help it. Not around Magnus. 

“Oh, Pumpkin,” Taako said, internally cursing himself for calling Magnus, a grown-ass man, a fucking pumpkin, – “you’re not doing anything wrong. Uh. . . it’s just. Practice! This kinda stuff needs practice.”

Taako was kicking himself for the blunder and the hasty cover-up which the other man definitely noticed. With a smirk, Magnus forgot his inability to cast Mage Hand, and looked up at Taako, one eyebrow raised. “Pumpkin, huh?”

“Shut up,” Taako said, raising his hand and turning his head when he saw Magnus about to speak again. “Shut. Up.”

Magnus erupted into laughter. “Well,” he said, raising his hands in mock-surrender, “Alright, Pumpkin.”

Taako spun on his heel and cursed the Raven Queen, Istus, Pan or whatever fucking god decided to make him blush. He crossed his arms and looked towards the dirt, allowing his hat to fall over his eyes and his hair to fall in front of his face. “You can’t – don’t – don’t call me that.”

“Then what would you like me to call you?” Taako heard Magnus come up behind him and felt his hand fall onto his shoulder. More heat rose to his cheeks at the contact, and he brought his chin closer to his chest. He knew what he’d like Magnus to call him, but he was never going to say it.

“Don’t call me anything,” Taako tried to pry Magnus’s hand off of his shoulder, but was unsuccessful. He spoke through gritted teeth, but only because he was trying so hard to hide his face, and not because of anger. “Call me nothing.”

“Okay, nothing,” Magnus laughed as he placed his other hand on Taako’s shoulder and spun him around to face his chest. “Your wish is granted.”

Taako continued to look towards the dirt as he was spun around. “You’re an ass,” he murmured. He felt one of Magnus’s hands lift from his shoulder and touch the underside of his chin, lifting it up. Taako’s hat and hair fell away and their eyes made contact.

“Oh really?” Magnus spoke softly; the distance between them had lessened, and there was no reason to speak as loud as they had been before. He’d also noted the coloring of Taako’s cheeks, which made his own lightly pink. Who knew he could have such an effect on anyone, let alone Taako? His heartrate quickened as he said, “I’m sure you’d know.”

Taako’s eyes widened, and Magnus noticed that he bit his lip. “Well actually, Mags, I don’t.”

Magnus pulled away. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he said, looking away and scratching the back of his neck. What was he even thinking? Taako was – he was actually perfect. Magnus was. . . well, he was just Magnus, and that was the way things were and the way things always would be. He turned away from him when he apologized. “Sorry.”

Taako’s heart wrenched and he cursed himself for having feelings. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” Magnus turned his head and looked at Taako out of the corner of his eye, curious.

“Don’t apologize,” he said, grabbing one of Magnus’s hands with both of his. Magnus turned around. “I – I feel,” Taako struggled to find words; he’d lost his nerve when their eyes made contact again. “Don’t worry,” he muttered, turning away.

Magnus grabbed Taako’s arm. “What?” he asked. When Taako looked confused, he added, “What do you feel?”

Taako shook his head. “Stupid,” he said, before wrenching his arm out of Magnus’s grasp and heading towards the Starblaster.

Lup knew something was up with Taako, but she didn’t know how to ask. Usually, she would . . . but she’d never seen him like this before. He’d stormed into the Starblaster and headed straight to his room, slamming the door behind him. Which, okay, the door-slamming was completely normal because Taako was the most extra out of all of them, but he didn’t even grab a snack beforehand.  
Which was why Lup found herself knocking on Taako’s door instead of just barging in.  
“Go away,” Taako said, his voice muffled.

Lup hesitated. “It’s me,” she said, looking down at the handle.

Taako was confused; why was his sister, usually the one with absolutely no respect for personal space and boundaries, knocking instead of just barging in? Perhaps he was acting stranger than he thought he was – and he thought he was already acting like a lunatic. He groaned. “Fine.”

Lup turned the handle, and was relieved to see the sight of Taako wasn’t too uncommon; he was sprawled out on his bed, his face pressed into his pillow, which explained the sound of his voice. But when he sat up and revealed his face, she saw that his makeup had been ruined, which he scrambled to fix; but not before she noticed. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” Taako sighed, moving over so Lup had space in his bed.

“Y’know, I saw Magnus –”

“This has nothing to do with Magnus.”

The abruptness of Taako’s response told Lup that this had everything to do with Magnus. “Mm. Sure.”

Taako shoved her off of the bed. “It really doesn’t – he just – his Mage Hand –”

“You and I both know this has nothing to do with Magnus’s inability to cast Mage Hand, KoKo.” Lup pulled herself off of the floor, but stayed out of Taako’s reach. “So spill.”

Taako fell silent. He wished that he could hate his sister for asking, but he knew that he never could. She knew him inside and out, just like he knew her inside and out – and because he knew her inside and out, Taako knew that she wouldn’t judge him at all for what he was about to say. “I – I think I like Magnus?”

“Everyone likes Magnus. Have you seen his rustic hospitality?”

“No! Like – Y’know . . .”

Lup’s hands flew to the sides of his face, and she grinned. “Oh my god. Really?”

Although Taako wasn’t looking at her, he could hear the smile in her voice. She knew just how big this was, more than anybody else would on this damn ship. “Yeah.”

She leapt forward and embraced him, laughing into his shoulder, before pulling back and wiping a fake tear. Taako laughed and shook his head when he saw her charade. “It’s not that big of a deal, Lup.”

“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong!” She said, grasping his shoulders. Taako felt butterflies in his stomach as he remembered the feeling of Magnus’s hands in the same place as his sister’s was. It was his shoulders, dammit! Why was he getting this flustered over somebody touching his shoulders? “You’re blushing!”

“Am not!” Taako said, reaching up to pull his hat down over his face before realizing that he wasn’t wearing it. “I uh – I just have a tan.”

“This is fantastic!” Lup yelled, pulling him up off of the bed and spinning with him in a circle. “Let’s make celebratory macaroons!”

“I don’t –” Taako was cut off before he could even finish what he was about to say.

“You can’t even try to lie about not wanting to make macaroons, dumbass. You just don’t wanna see Magnus because he’s out there.”

“He’s out there?” Before Taako could protest, Lup was dragging him out of his room and towards the kitchen in the main area of the Starblaster. Davenport, Merle and Barry were playing Fantasy Euchre with none other than Magnus Burnsides in the dining area, and Lup swore that she’d never grinned wider. Taako was less than impressed, but now, faced with onlookers, he had to stay on brand. “Ten gold I make better macaroons than you.”

“You don’t have any gold.”

“How ‘bout an IOU?” Lup rolled her eyes, and the two fell into rhythm as they began making the macaroons. They didn’t require a whole lot of intricate effort – especially not in comparison to what they were used to – but there was still an art to making them that encouraged someone to watch. That someone being Lucretia, to Lup’s chagrin.

“Hey Lucy,” Lup said, her eyes more on the macaroons than Lucretia, “Whatcha writing there?”

Although Lup wasn’t looking at Lucretia, there was no doubt that she had her journal with her. Lucretia was dedicated to the original job that she had been assigned with when they first took flight on the Starblaster, which was that of a journal keeper. “The recipe to those macaroons.”

“Oh no you don’t,” Taako said, his eyes narrowed. “These macaroons are a secret recipe!”

Lucretia rolled her eyes before clearing the page in her book. “Fine,” she said, “but I better get some.”

“I better get some, too!” Taako felt the tips of his ears burning as Magnus yelled from across the room. “Either that, or you have an IOU for me!”

Lup answered for him. “KoKo would be more than happy to give you some macaroons, Maggie.”

Taako stepped on her foot. “Asshole,” he muttered.

“You love me.”

“I’m beginning to doubt that,” Taako said. Lup feigned offense, holding a hand to her chest and letting her mouth fall open. Taako threw some of the batter from the macaroons into her mouth, and Lup rolled her eyes.

“Love you too,” she said, voice muffled by macaroon batter.

Once the macaroons were in the oven, Lup went over to the others playing Euchre, her hands resting on the backs of Barry’s and Magnus’s chairs respectively. Taako chose to be as far away from Magnus as he possibly could whilst still appearing normal, which was why he ended up sitting at the kitchen bench next to Lucretia instead. Lup noticed this, and didn’t hesitate to point it out so the others would notice. “What’s wrong with us, KoKo?”

“Nothing,” Taako said, gesturing to Lucretia. “It just so happens that Lucretia is sitting at the bench with nobody else.”

“We can move over to the others –” Lucretia didn’t even get a chance to finish her sentence before Taako cut her off with one of his own.

“But actually, fuck this,” he said, gesturing to everyone else in the room. “I’m going to my room.”

After Taako had left, Lucretia stayed at the kitchen bench, writing. Not long after, all of the others left too, leaving Lucretia alone, which she was thankful for; she worked better when she wasn’t being watched by six pairs of eyes. She was writing not about the flora found in the world that they’d found themselves in, not about the recipe for those macaroons that she’d tried to memorize – but about Magnus and Taako. She’d heard their late night conversations in Magnus’s room over a bottle of wine – how couldn’t she, when her room was right next door – and she’d seen the way Taako’s eyes stayed on where Magnus had been long after he’d left a room. She’d seen Magnus touch his cheeks after Taako had kissed them mockingly, and seen Magnus watch Taako cook when he thought he was well hidden.

Most importantly, she’d been watching from the deck of the Starblaster as Taako had tried to teach Magnus Mage Hand. She’d have to break the news to them later that Magnus would never be able to learn; he was a fighter at heart, and always would be. But that wasn’t what she was writing down. She was writing about their love.

Their love was unspoken, but it was there. Which was exactly why she had to write it down, just like she wrote everything. She knew that Taako and Magnus would ask why, but she also knew that the others would understand. The Starblaster was able to fly entirely because of bonds, they all knew that. They all saw how much more efficiently the Starblaster flew after Barry and Lup became an item. There was no doubt in Lucretia’s mind that she would have to document the differences in the Starblaster’s flight both now and after their relationship was official, which she knew Barry and Davenport would appreciate. She also wrote because, well . . .

It was cute. She wrote it because it was cute, and she knew that it would be hilarious to give a copy to Lup to mock Taako with. Which was what she did, but not before asking her for a favor. Lup was surprised. “You – what?”

“I want you to talk to Magnus. He needs – he needs to talk to Taako. They need to talk to each other. And, well – I’m sure you know that Taako would never have that conversation willingly.”

Lup Laughed. “Yeah. That’s true. Do you – do you know where Magnus is?”

Lucretia did; and Magnus was torn. On the one hand, he wanted to stay out of Taako’s way because that was clearly what he wanted. But on the other hand – an entirely more selfish hand – he wanted to confront Taako and ask what he was actually going to say to him. He sure as hell knew it wasn’t going to be that he felt stupid – as Taako would say, that wasn’t on brand. 

Conflicted, Magnus decided to push the decision away and go for a walk. Walks had always cleared his head, and he hoped that one would now, especially given the world they were in; a completely uninhabited one.

Although the world was uninhabited by fauna, it sure as hell wasn’t uninhabited by flora. From what they’d seen so far when they were flying in the Starblaster, there was an omnipresent mountain – where they had seen the Light of Creation arc behind just the day before – looming over jungles, plunging gorges and verdant foothills that swept down to sandy beaches. It was an island world; quite possibly hundreds of thousands of other tiny islands had been seen on their way in, which was why they’d decided not to go after the Light this year. It could’ve gone onto any island, or even fallen into the sea. Magnus was glad – the seven of them needed a break from all the dying and searching, and a year would be plenty, even if their concept of time had long since been screwed over.

“Magnus, wait!” Magnus turned at the sound of Lup’s voice. Though they were friends and got along well, they never really hung out alone together, which was why he was surprised.

“Lup, hey!” he said. “What’s up?”

When she finally caught up with him, she hesitated. “Magnus, I gotta ask you something,” she paused. “What happened with Taako earlier?”

“What do you mean by . . . earlier?”

“When he was meant to be teaching you Mage Hand?”

“Oh.” Magnus paused. He knew that if Lup was asking this question . . . Taako would have had to mention something to her about it. Which made his cheeks really warm again. “He unsuccessfully tried to teach me Mage Hand.”

“You and I both know that’s not the whole truth, Maggie,” she sighed. “Spill. I’m worried about him.”

Magnus fidgeted with his hands. “It’s going to sound really stupid.”

Lup put her hand on Magnus’s bicep. “It’s okay.”

“Well, uh – he, uh – he called me ‘Pumpkin’ and –”

Lup laughed, releasing Magnus’s bicep and putting her face in her hand. “He what?”

“Yeah, I was as surprised as you are,” Magnus said, blushing. “So I like. Teased him about it, and he got – embarrassed? I think? It’s weird, I didn’t think he could get embarrassed –”

“If you don’t think Taako can get embarrassed then you have a whole lot more to learn about him,” Lup said, removing her hand from her face to look at him. “He, uh – you should talk to him, Magnus. He’s not going to like it very much, so don’t tell him that I told you to, but . . . if you don’t talk to him I might just have a mental breakdown. It’s imperative that you do.”

“But – why?”

Lup shook her head. “Don’t ask me those questions – ask my brother those questions.”

“Are you sure it’s not a bad idea?” Magnus asked, looking to the sky. No sign of any vore-cloud, which he was thankful for. He already had too much to worry about without the fear of the world being swallowed whole. “I mean – no offense, but Taako isn’t really friendly to anyone else except you.”

“I was the same as Taako, if you remember. We’re kinda like, y’know, twins and all,” she said, looking at her nails. “But seriously. Both of us were closed off. We didn’t like the idea of being stuck on a tiny spaceship with a bunch of people we didn’t know very well, but like all of us, we only thought it’d be a few months and then we could say that we’d been to space and seen other worlds and have something to brag about.” Lup paused. “Sorry, I’m getting off track. But what I’m saying is that we didn’t intend to make friends with any single one of you. But look at us now; we’re like a family. Hell, Barry’s my boyfriend and I couldn’t be happier. Taako just takes time. It wouldn’t be the first time someone’s betrayed his trust. But I believe – in fact, I know that if you talk to him, he’ll grow to trust you. Without a doubt.”

Magnus was shocked. “You – seriously?”

“Yeah,” Lup said. “I know we don’t exactly talk to each other like this a lot, but believe me. I know Taako better than anyone.”

Magnus nodded. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll try to talk to him.”

Which was exactly what Magnus did. He knocked on Taako’s door hesitantly; he didn’t think he was quite ready to have this conversation yet, but Lup had given him some much needed confidence. Perhaps he was ready to talk to Taako. There was no use putting it off.

“Come in,” Taako said, expecting it to be Lup again. He immediately regretted his words when he realized that it wasn’t her. “Oh. Hi, Magnus. Need something?”

Taako wasn’t meeting Magnus’s eyes, but that was okay. “Yeah, I do,” Magnus said. “Can we talk?”

Taako’s heart stopped. “Uh . . . about?”

“Well, I think we both know . . .” Magnus trailed off. “I know it’s awkward, and it sure as hell is making me nervous, but it’s like ripping off a Fantasy Band-Aid. It has to be done, and once it is, we’ll both feel better.”

“Wait . . . you use Fantasy Band-Aids?”

“What?”

“Haven’t you heard of like, a cleric?”

“Taako, that’s beside the point – and anyway, Merle pretty much exclusively casts Zone of Truth. I kinda need Fantasy Band-Aids if I want to heal myself, ‘coz y’know. Can’t do magic.”

“Ah, well.”

“Taako, what were you going to say earlier?”

“It doesn’t matter, Maggie.”

“Please, Taako. You said you felt stupid.”

“Well, that’s because I am,” Taako said, sighing. “I’m just an idiot wizard.”

Magnus laughed. “You can fool others with that, but you can’t fool me, Taako. Besides,” he paused, “that’s not a part of your whole,” he gesticulated the air around Taako, “brand.”

Taako laughed. “Well, you got me there.”

A silence fell between them for a few seconds, and Magnus cleared his throat. “Maybe – maybe I should start.”

Taako met his eyes, grateful. “Yeah. Maybe you should, Pumpkin.”

**Author's Note:**

> hey i have a writing discord now! feel free to join :) https://discord.gg/ujf5ZD7


End file.
